The Story Behind TheGreenBackpack...

EVENTS LEADING UP TO BIRTH OF "THEGREENBACKPACK"

The GreenBackpack was born out of a desire to create an underlying purpose to the world travel that I am planning.

This trip could simply be a romp throughout the world, drunken night after drunken night at hostel after hostel meeting new people, exploring new places, and creating new adventures....or, I can encompass these elements of travel [in sober moderation, of course], and direct my wanderlust so that my travels can be used as a vehicle to increase my own knowledge and value in an area that I have long been interested: sustainability.

Sustainability has become a buzz word in recent times, and it can be easy to think of "sustainability" simply as "environmentalism", or "eco-friendly". However, to me, sustainability encompasses so much more than "going green".....

Put the word "sustainable" in front of any of the following words, and you cast a renewed focus onto another aspect of the sustainability movement: capitalism, charitable work, entrepreneurship, environment, education, economy, philosophy, philanthropy, social responsibility, social ventures, even....wait for it....spirituality.

So, while this journey is about me diving into these things that interest me, and inviting you to come along and learn with me......it is also an outward expression of the journey I am taking within to explore myself:

What passions do I want to follow? What do I want to experience? Will I retreat into the wild? Will I come back? Who will I be when I come back?

Therefore the blog is a travelog, a spiritual diary, a research paper, and hopefully a forum where those of us who find ourselves asking these same questions can discuss and debate and collaborate and connect and explore together.

Here's the rough plan for 2009 thus far....of course, this is subject to change each day as the road is constantly changing and has already started to unfold and reveal its treasures and challenges before me:

1. Depart Honolulu April 20th, 2009 to Melbourne, Australia to celebrate my brother's 30th birthday and spend about a month with Mum, Dad and Sis. Road trips and re-connecting with family / friends.
   
2. June / July - road trip up to Sydney. Hope to spend a month training chi-kung and some kung-fu with my teachers who live there.
   
3. July / August - road trip up to QLD to visit family and friends. Explore the surrounding countryside, specifically want to learn more about aquaponics while in Australia. , camp on beaches that stretch to the horizon both ways, and do some WWOOFing.
4. August / September - travel through the Red Center to visit Ayers Rock. Sleep under the southern sky in the Australian outback. I wonder if I could work on a cattle ranch and learn to drove cattle on horseback?
5. September / October - meet my uncle in the Phillipines to explore my Filipino ancestry. Visit a friend's Eco-Resort that is under construction.
6. Oct / Nov - am looking into ways I can teach English in rural Japan for short stint, no longer than 2 months. I want to live on a small Japanese farm and experience the lifestyle.
7. Dec - spend Christmas season with family friends in Bali.

The rough plan for 2010? Travel through SE Asia to rural Thailand to teach English for a month, visit Bangledesh and learn more about Grameen Bank's microfinance projects, study meditation and yoga in India, then make my way to Europe which I have been longing to explore for quite some time.

It will be very interesting to see how European society is adapting to the changing world, and how a cap-and-trade economy has affected small business, especially since the Obama administration has listed implementing carbon cap-and-trade initiatives into the US Economy as a priority.

The final leg of my journey back to Hawaii will be through North and South America, on motorcycle, WWOOFing and Couchsurfing my way across the continent.

Along the way, I will seek out and explore people and projects that are making a positive difference in the world...which is the simple truth driving the entire sustainability movement:

"How do we love all the children of all species for all time?"
-William McDonough, author of "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we Make Things

Come along for the ride!


Sincerely,

Matthew K Lynch
thegreenbackpack.com

Decision

ALOHA IN DA WHITE HOUSE

"HAPPY! HAPPY!!

JOY! JOY!!

HAPPY! HAPPY!!

JOY! JOY!!

HAPPY! HAPPY!!

JOY! JOY!!" - Ren & Stimpy

While millions of people around the world tuned in to watch the inauguration preceedings, my buddy Laurens and I retreated to the valleys of Waimanalo to celebrate the new presidency by spending more time with new friends at Olomana Gardens.

We thought it appropriate to take step back to nature and simplicity as the rest of the world held its breath and wept while Barrack Obama, the great Icon of Hope for our generation, was sworn into office.  In celebration of new beginnings, we questioned and further explored new territory in what we want our lives to stand for, and how we want to live.

In doing so, we spent the morning the interns and WWOOFers living on the farm to learn more about organic permacultre and aquaculture, then hiked watertrails in the mountainsides with the group to learn more about the local watershed and water quality issues.

"[Living on a farm] is not how I want to live", Laurens explained to me, "but I LOVE learning new things and connecting with people who are leading the way and using their resources to actually DO what they love to affect change."

Laurens is one of my best friends, the kind of guy who looks at a challenge and simply figures out how to make it work; no whining, no drama.  He is a fellow alumni of HKU...Hard Knocks University.  We've both built our businesses with our bare hands, and little more than our wits + a burning desire to provide as many options as we can for our loved ones.  Money....and lots of it....is important because of the options it affords us; it is the means, not the ends....though in recent times we have found ourselves questioning our definition of "lots"...

In some ways, I feel like I have lost my business so that he doesn't have to lose his...there are mistakes I've made along the way that he doesn't have to make himself since I've crossed them off the list as "things not-to-do."

He is facing his own set of challenges to....as we all are....and I admire the way he looks to make the best of whatever comes his way.  In many ways, he and I are on similar paths, though from the outside our lives look very different: 

He = married, 3 young children, still in business, driving us in his Mercedes.

Me = single, 1 small dog, out of business, driving my uncle's beat-up 1992 Volvo...

...yet each of us questioning and exploring and discovering more and more about himself with each passing day.  Fighting the good fight.  The fight to listen to your own heart's true desire, true purpose.

Henry Ford famously said, "failure is simply the opportunity to start again more intelligently."

So, when President Obama proclaimed, "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America," I hear it with slightly different ears.

Starting today, I must pick myself up, dust myself off, and begin again the work of remaking myself.

No more laying in bed feeling sorry for myself.  No more avoiding phone calls or old friends reaching out to support and connect with me.  No more hiding.  Time to hold my head high and dive into the work of rebuilding myself....and to start from within.  

This is the part of the movie where the main character gets beaten down by his nemesis, and retreats into the mountains humbled and bloody to lick his wounds.  Thus begins the battle that is fought within, the battle of "Can I really do this?  Am I worthy enough?".....the wandering and the wondering and the soul-searching that goes with it....this is the part of my life I am entering into now.

We have been called to “a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”

Character.  What am I made of?  Is my desire to travel simply me running away from my challenges?  Or am I on the path of searching and discovery that envisioned by the movie running in my head?  Will I come back?  Will I even leave [I haven't yet bought my tickets...]?

Task.  How do I want to make a difference to our world?  Why am I here.....what do I want my life to stand for, and be about?  What is it that I want to do with my life? 

We emerge from the rainforest into a new world...on the drive home, the dark  clouds of challenges still ahead loomed ominously in the valleys to our right...and rays of sunshine blazed patches of blue sky over the ocean to our left.  The earth itself is whispering to us of what lies ahead.

EACH OF US, STEWARDS OF OUR COMMUNITIES

Green Roof To Feed Homeless in Honolulu

BEFORE -

stay tuned for the "AFTER" pics!!

I was very lucky to be invited to be a "fly on the wall" in IHS' Rooftop Aquaponics Garden planning meeting this morning!

As part ot their new "greening" initiative, IHS has made the decision to install a Green Roof on their facilty in an effort to increase their facility's food security and decrease their energy costs. Planning and fund development for a photovoltaic solar electric system is underway.

Because a large percentage of the food served at IHS is donated by the Food Bank, fresh vegetables are rarely available, and nutritional standards sometimes fall below federal USDA guidelines.

The proposed Rooftop Aquaponics Garden will create a sustainable food source, and provide guests with a more nutritional diet, work skills training, and opportunities to contribute to the shelter community operations.

Recirculation aquaculture and hydroponics are combined to grow fish and plants in one integrated ecosystem. The fish waste provides nutrients for the growing plants, and the plants act as a natural filter for the water the fish live in.

The most exciting thing about this project is that it is a solution born out of a pro-active response to the shortage of resources that the economic downturn has brought upon us all.

By taking the time to think and come up with innovative ideas, IHS has solved their initial challenges: 1) how can we continue to provide a secure foodsource and nutritional diet to our guests? 2) how can we improve our efficiency in order to reduce energy costs? AND, look at all the other benefits their GreenRoof solution brings:

• extend life of their roof system
• mitigate stormwater
• reduce sound transmission
  
• improve the building's value and asthetics
• create a potential additional income source
• contribute to reducing Honolulu's urban core heat island impact
• have health benefits
• help reduce air pollution
• increase the bio-sphere of Honolulu's urban landscape
• reduce stress for users

....to name a few.

Sustainability has become a buzz word in recent times, and it can be easy to think of "sustainability" simply as "environmentalism", or "eco-friendly". However, sustainability encompasses so much more than "going green".....

Put the word "sustainable" in front of any of the following words, and you cast a renewed focus onto another aspect of the sustainability movement: capitalism, charitable work, entrepreneurship, environment, education, economy, philosophy, philantrhopy, social responsibility, social ventures, even....wait for it....spirituality.

IHS' Rooftop Aquaponics Garden is a great example of how sustainabilty best practices, are really great practices for any organization or business.

Sustainabilty in Business = Innovation in Business = Flourishing Business.

Thinking pro-actively and looking at ways we can be smarter in the way we use the resources allocated to us is the smart thing to do. It is the right thing to do.

To find out more about how to support or donate to the project, contact Kate Bepko, PR and Volunteer Manager at 808-447-2811.

ABOUT IHS: IHS is Oahu's only 24-hour emergency walk-in shelter for men, women and families with children who are homeless. They currently provide 3 hot meals every day, an average of 650 meals a day - 365 days per year. This tremendous effort is possible through the support of the community and volunteers. IHS is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.